The Cure For Death By Lightning

The Cure For Death By Lightning
Gail Anderson-Dargatz
Vintage Canada, 1997

First impression:
The language is peculiar, some blend between rather old American and translated Eastern European, thus the atmosphere oscillates between The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and Everything Is Illuminated. Curious to see where this will lead.

Review:
This book is magical from beginning to end, and full of depth and images that are beyond my comprehension. Much of the material could well be described as poetry, and the author really controls the reader with a constantly present atmospheric pressure and character portraits so complicated and confusing they might as well be real. The descriptions of how "modern life" took place in the 1940s are also quite stunning, although the homeliness warms up the book from the core. I did miss a more deductive plotline to hang on to, but except for that I was very touched by the sincere and often tragical stories that came alive through this novel.

Rating: Impressive